Lace-curtain stretcher



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES GILRAY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

LACE-CURTAIN STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,272, dated October28, 1890.

Application filed November 19, 1888. Serial No. 291,279. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES GILRAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Stretchers, ofwhich The stretcher-frame consists of two longitudinal side bars A andtwo cross-bars arranged in rectangularform and firmly but adjustablyunited at the corners by the C- shaped screw-clamps O. In order that theside bars may be closed into a compact form, they are each dividedmidway of its length and the two parts united by a top hinge a, so thatone part may be folded over upon the other, as indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 2.

When in use, the bars must be held in a stifi or rigid condition, andfor this purpose I apply to the under side of each bar across the jointa metal plate f, bolting the same at one end firmly to one of the partsof the bar and connecting it at the opposite end to the other part ofthe bar by a butterfly-nut j on the end of a bolt seated in the bar. Bygiving this nut a partial rotation it is permitted to pass through anopening i, made in the plate, as shown in Fig.7, so that the bar may befolded or closed. The plate f is provided with uprising flanges alongits edges, which give it a channeled form, so that it embraces orincloses the two parts of the barin such manner as to keep them in lineboth vertically and horizontally. The plate thus formed and appliedco-operates with the hinge on the opposite side in keeping the bar inproper form and relieves the hinge to a great extent from the severestrain to which it would otherwise be subjected.

Instead of providing the bars, as usual, with renter-hooks, which arevery objection able because of their extending beyond the bar in suchmanner as to be frequently caught and bent accidentally, I use straightpins d.

'Each bar has its inner edge channeled or rabbeted, as shown at c, andin this channeled surface the pins are inserted with an outwardinclination and driven below the level of the face of the bar. The pinsthus applied and falling wholly within the planes of the faces of thebar admit of the bars being stored, transported, and handled Withoutserious liability of their being caught or-bent, as in the case of hooksor of pins projecting beyond the surface of the bars. In making use ofthe structure there is danger of the ends of the pins being pressed orbent out of line with the portion which is buried in the wood. Then thepin is thus bent, the strain of the curtain will tend to cause it toturn in the wood, so that the upper or bent end will assume an outwardinclination'and allow the curtain to escape therefrom. To resist thistendency and prevent the rotation of the pins, I flatten their innerends, as shown in Fig. 4, so that when driven into the wood it isimpossible for them to turn. When the ends are thus flattened, thestraight pins will answer every purpose of the more expensive hookscommonly employed and have the great.

advantage that they may be applied so as to lie wholly within the edgesof the bar, as before explained.

What I claim is 1. The herein-described curtain-stretcher, consisting ofthe cross-bars, the clamps, and the side bars, each of the latterdivided midway of its length and having itstwo parts united by a hingeapplied to one side and by a flanged plate f, secured to the oppositeside.

2. In a curtain-stretcher, a side bar A, consisting of two parts ormembers joined end to end by a hinge b on one face and by a channeledplate f on theopposite face, said plate bolted to one of the parts andconnected to the opposite part by a nut or turn-button, substantially asshown.

Dated at Buffalo, New York, this 28th day of July, 1888.

JAMES GILRAY.

In presence of FRED F. THOMAS, A. W. KILLINGER.

